AFC Awards
The Marcus Allen Award
AFC Offensive Rookie of the Year
Winner: AJ Green-WR-Cincinnati
Runner-up: Torrey Smith-WR-Baltimore
Third Place: Andy Dalton-QB-Cincinnati
Comments: The only question here was how much of a boost you want to give a guy for being a rookie QB, which most people would say is more difficult than being a rookie receiver. That outlook might be changing though. I’m not saying that QB isn’t the most important or most difficult position; it just seems like high draft pick QB’s are expected to be able to at least get by as rookie starters.
Andy Dalton threw for 212.4 YD/GM this season with a 58.1 PCT and an 80.4 Rat. He fired 20 TD’s against 13 picks. For a rookie QB those aren’t bad numbers. Dalton was setup to be a game manager this year just as you would expect a rookie QB to be. He struggled mightily against the toughest competition but that is to be expected.
Against Houston in the WC round the rookie was exposed, throwing for 257 yards but with 3 picks, no TD’s, and 4 sacks. He fired a pick-six that was the turning point in the game (although to be fair that was a hell of a play by fellow rookie JJ Watt).
Andy Dalton had a solid year for a rookie QB but AJ Green and Torrey Smith both had very good rookie seasons. Green and Smith each caught 7 TD’s, but AJ led all AFC rookies with 65 Receptions, 1057 Receiving Yards, 19 Receptions for 20 yards or more, and 7 Receptions for 40 yards or more. He did all of that in just 15 games.
Against Houston in the playoffs, Green was targeted often but caught only 5 passes for 47 yards, as the Texans were keyed in on him.
Smith played in every game this season but he was completely quiet for the first couple of weeks. His breakout game was in week 3 when it became obvious that his raw speed made him a weapon. He caught just 5 passes that week but racked up 154 Rec Yds and 3 TD’s.
Even then he was still getting used to the pro game, as he caught only 1 pass for 1 yard the next week. But from then on he was a constant threat and a consistent contributor, with the high point of his season coming on a last minute TD catch to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh, giving the Ravens the sweep.
Smith ended up catching only 50 passes but racked up 841 yards in essentially 13 games. Smith disappeared again in the divisional round against Houston, catching just 1 pass for 9 yards. However, he came back with a vengeance a week later in the AFC title game against the Pats, catching 3 passes for 82 yards and a touch.
Torrey Smith was the most dangerous offensive rookie in the AFC, but AJ Green was a better all-around receiver. Green also passed the eye test. He was supposed to be the top rookie receiver and he looked like it all season.
The Derrick Thomas Award
AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year
Winner: Von Miller-OLB-Denver
Runner-up: Jabaal Sheard-DE-Cleveland
Third Place: Karl Klug-DT-Tennessee
Comments: Everyone knew Miller would be good and he obviously was. I have to admit I didn’t know that much about Jabaal Sheard or Karl Klug. Karl Klug sounds like the name of a German male porn star. And Jabaal Sheard sounds like the name of an Arabian…male porn star.
Anyway, Sheard was taken early in the 2nd round and he had a productive season for the Browns, recording 40 Solo Tackles, 8.5 Sacks, 5 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumble Rec, and 2 Passes Defensed. He also had 8.5 Stuffs which are defined as tackles for loss on running plays. 8.5 stuffs is plenty.
The Klugster wasn’t drafted until the 5th round. He only had 20 Total Tackles but he notched 7 Sacks and 1Stuff from the DT position. He also had 2 FF and 4 PD.
However, Miller was obviously the top defensive rookie in the AFC. He was starting to be a real terror until a hand injury slowed him down (had no sacks and just 1 solo tackle over final 3 regular season games). He recorded 3 solo tackles and a sack against the Steelers in the WC round but was completely shutout the next week against the Patriots. During the regular season Miller played in 15 of 16 games and recorded 50 Solo, 11.5 Sacks (tops among AFC rookies), 6.5 Stuffs, 2 FF, and 4 PD.
The Earl Campbell Award
AFC Rookie of the Year
Winner: AJ Green-WR-Cincinnati
Runner-up: Von Miller-OLB-Denver
Third Place: Torrey Smith-WR-Baltimore
Comments: Obviously this award is for the best AFC rookie regardless of whether they are on offense or defense. I put Torrey Smith ahead of the other 2 defensive players because of the 7 touchdowns catches, his terrific 16.8 Yards per Reception Average, and his performance in big games against the Steelers and Patriots.
I had a tough time choosing between AJ Green and Von Miller. Miller was a force but Green was really impressive as a first year receiver. It often seems that WR’s take longer to develop than any other skill position but that wasn’t the case for Green. With this one I ended up going with my gut feeling of who deserved it most and decided on AJ Green.
The Mel Blount Award
AFC Defensive Player of the Year
Winner: Terrell Suggs-OLB-Baltimore
Runner-up: D’Qwell Jackson-MLB-Cleveland
Third Place: Lardarius Webb-CB-Baltimore
Comments: Well, it wasn’t very hard to choose Suggs as the winner. To be honest, there weren’t many AFC defensive players who had huge individual seasons. Suggs was by far the top guy. He led the AFC in both Sacks (14.0) and FF (7) while recording 50 Solo and 7.5 Stuffs. Suggs had a pair of Interceptions and 6 PD.
Suggs had a number of huge games in 2011, beginning with the season opener against the Steelers when he had 3 Sacks and 2 FF. Suggs had two other 3-sack games this season. Against the Texans in the divisional round Suggs recorded 5 solo tackles, an assisted tackle, and a PD. The Patriots focused on stopping him in the AFC championship game, but he managed to record 5 total tackles, including an assist on a tackle for loss.
After Suggs the race was kinda wide open. Some might call it a major leap to rank D’Qwell Jackson 2nd but that guy was just a bad ass this season. No one other than Suggs had a truly awesome season so I went with the consistent machine. DQ led the AFC in both Solo (116) and Tot (158). In addition, Jackson recorded 3.5 Sacks, 8.5 Stuffs, 1 FF, 3 FR, 3 PD, and 1 INT.
There will also be questions about Lardarius Webb in third place, but again, there weren’t any guys other than Suggs who had truly awesome seasons on defense in the AFC. And Webb is certainly worthy of the third place honor here. Webb was tied 2nd in the AFC with 20 PD and tied 3rd with 5 picks. He returned an INT for a TD and had 1 FF and 2 FR. He recorded 54 Solo, 1 Sack, and 1 Stuff.
As a return man he also produced. He returned 2 kickoffs for an average of 29.5 yards. He had a 10.0 average on punt returns, taking 4 for 20+ yards and 1 for a TD.
Webb didn’t stop once he got to the postseason. In Baltimore’s win over the Texans in the divisional round Webb recorded 4 Solo, 4 PD, and grabbed 2 picks. In the AFC title game Webb recorded 4 Solo, 2 Assisted Tackles, 1 PD, and another INT. Thus, in 18 total games Webb was responsible for 10 turnovers and 2 TD’s.
This is one of those picks that most people wouldn’t have, but with the combination of his regular season, his postseason, and his special teams production it made perfect sense to me.
The Thurman Thomas Award
AFC Offensive Player of the Year
Winner: Tom Brady-QB-New England
Runner-up: Rob Gronkowski-TE-New England
Third Place: Wes Welker-WR-New England
Comments: The first two spots for this award were clear cut. Just like with the defensive players, there weren’t that many outstanding individual seasons by AFC offensive players this season. Tom Brady was a pretty easy choice for top offensive player. He was head and shoulders above the competition at the quarterback position.
Brady led all AFC QB’s in Completions, Completion Percentage, Passing Yards, Yards per Attempt, Passing Touchdowns, and QB Rating. Brady topped the next best AFC QB in PYD by 611; PTD by 12; and Rat by 8.8. The New England QB fired 39 TD’s against 12 INT, averaging 327.2 Passing Yards per Game, while posting a 105.6 Rat and a 65.6% PCT.
Tommy Brady started out the postseason in spectacular fashion, toasting the Broncos in a blowout that was over at halftime. Brady completed 26 of 34 for 363 yards, 6 TD, 1 INT, and a 137.6 Rat. However, Brady followed up that performance with what for his standards was a poor game against the Ravens in the AFC championship. He completed 22 of 36 for just 239 yards, no TD’s, 2 picks, and a 57.5 rating. The fact that the Patriots won that game despite a 239-0-2 game from Brady is remarkable.
Tom promised to be better in the Super Bowl and he was. It wasn’t his best game. He made a bad mistake that cost his team 2 points early, he threw a costly pick, and he wasn’t as accurate as he could have been. But there was a stretch in that game when he was absolutely on fire and he ended up 27 of 41 for 276, 2 TD, 1 INT, and a 91.1 Rat. Overall in the 3 playoff games he completed 67.6% for 292.7 yards a game, 8 TD’s against 4 picks, and a 100.4 rating.
Brady wasn’t a total runaway winner for this award. That’s because one of his teammates had what was almost certainly the single greatest offensive season for a tight end in the history of the game. Rob Gronkowski caught 90 balls this season for 1327 Rec YD and an astonishing 17 TD’s.
He was 2nd in the AFC in Rec and Rec YD, trailing only teammate Wes Welker. He led the AFC in Rec TD by a ridiculous 8 touchdowns over the next best guy. He also led the AFC in 20+ with 22 and averaged 14.7 YD/Rec. And remember, this is out of all pass catchers in the AFC, not just TE’s. Gronk even had a rushing TD, giving him 18 total TD’s, the most in the AFC.
Gronk's historic season carried over into the playoffs. He was unstoppable in the blowout of Denver, catching 10 passes for 145 yards and 3 TD’s. The next week against the Ravens he managed to catch 5 passes for 85 yards, but of course he was also struck by the Bernard Pollard Curse.
Gronk’s high-ankle sprain was a big story leading up to the Super Bowl and it turned out to be justified. In the big game he caught only 2 passes for 26 yards. The Giants certainly deserve credit for slowing Gronk down but he was clearly not close to 100%. To find another game when he was even close to that ineffective you have to go all the way back to weeks 4 and 5 of the season.
I went with Brady for the top spot because he’s the quarterback, but Gronkowski was certainly special enough to win the award if not for his own QB.
Third place was really tough for me. Originally I had Wes Welker penciled in. Then after some more hours of looking things over and considering it all I switched to Ray Rice. But then there was an annoying voice in my head telling me that I only went with Rice because it seemed ridiculous to have Patriots in the top 3 spots.
Rice was a horse this season so having him in third place would certainly be legit. Sometimes after analyzing things for a while you just have to step away and come back in order to figure things out. Eventually I realized that there was just no denying it: the Pats most certainly did have the top 3 offensive players in the AFC this season.
Wes Welker led the AFC with 122 Receptions and 1569 Receiving Yards. He caught 32 more passes than the 2nd best guy (Gronk) and had 242 more Rec YDS than the next best guy (Gronk). Welker caught 9 TD’s which was actually tied for 2nd best in the conference (only Gronk had more).
Some people think that the total number of receptions isn’t so important, but I’m not one of those people. I mean the guy averaged 12.9 yards per catch. That’s not among the AFC leaders, but the point is that if every catch goes for over 10 yards, it’s a good thing to have 122 of them.
And the idea that the Brady to Welker combo is almost like a glorified handoff is overblown. Just because Welker doesn’t run fly routes 40 yards down the sideline or run a deep post doesn’t mean that he’s just some possession receiver. He caught 21 passes for 20+ yards which was tied for 2nd in the AFC behind only Gronk.
Welker averaged 10.3 yards over 8 punt returns this season. He was productive in all 3 playoff games. Against Denver he caught 6 passes for 55 yards and a touch. He caught 6 for 53 against the Ravens. In the Super Bowl Welker made 7 catches for 60 yards and also ran the ball twice for 21 yards. Unfortunately, what will be remembered is the one ball he couldn’t come up with. In this awards blog, however, we are allowed to have perspective on the situation.
You can talk all you want about teams “giving” Welker certain things, but it’s more accurate to say that they just can’t stop it. The bottom line is that the guy averaged 98.1 Rec YD/Gm which was 15.2 yards better than anyone else in the AFC (next best guy was of course Gronk).
The Otto Graham Award
AFC Most Valuable Player
Winner: Tom Brady-QB-New England
Runner-up: Rob Gronkowski-TE-New England
Third Place: Wes Welker-WR-NE
Comments: Once I figured out who the top 3 offensive guys were this was an easy one because no defensive players were good enough to crack the top 3 in the MVP. The guys who vote for the MVP and the Offensive Player of the Year Award often split those awards between the top 2 players. I don’t do that.
The Chuck Noll Award
AFC Coach of the Year
Winner: Bill Belichick-New England
Runner-up: John Fox-Denver
Third Place: Gary Kubiak-Houston
Comments: A whole lot of people hate Belichick but he’s simply a genius as a football coach. He makes decisions that appear cold at times, but unfortunately that’s what head coaches have to do (particularly if they are not only the head coach but also have the final say football wise in the organization). He got his team the #1 seed in the AFC and within 1 or 2 plays of winning another Super Bowl. He deserves this award.
John Fox deserves a ton of credit too. People were criticizing him for not changing things up to get the most out of Tim Tebow, and by the time those people stopped criticizing and paid attention it was obvious that he’d done so in dramatic fashion. He was able to turn things around for the Broncos in his first season on the job. He definitely handled the Tebow situation well and got the most he possibly could have out of that bunch.
I feel bad only having Kubiak in the third place slot. He finally got the team to 10 wins and into the playoffs and they won a game in the postseason. The Texans had their breakthrough season despite a slew of injuries. He was able to guide the offense through the loss of the top 2 QB’s and they were still contenders even with the very inexperienced TJ Yates. Who knows what they might have done if Schaub had been healthy?
Still, what changed for the Texans in 2011 was their transformation from one of the worst defenses in the game to one of the best. So you have to give Wade Phillips and the front office a lot of credit too.
The Al Davis Award
AFC Front Office of the Year
Winner: Cincinnati Bengals
Runner-up: Houston Texans
Third Place: Denver Broncos
Comments: I didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t believe I was going to do it. I think that pretty much sums up what every football person thought when they realized that the Bengals (and the Brown clan) had flat out gotten the shit right this time. It’s just hard to comprehend how it happened. It’s also hard to swallow because the natural reaction is to resist giving them any kind of praise at all. But if you’re being honest you know that the Bengals got it right this time (with the exception of allowing Pacman Jones to remain a part of the team).
And what makes it especially hard for most of us to accept is that you have to start out by saying the Bengals’ stubborn approach to the Carson Palmer situation was the right way to go. Palmer said he’d rather retire than continue to play for Brown and the Bengals. Who could blame him? On the other hand, Palmer had signed the deal and committed to play for Cincinnati for a very large and very lucrative long term contract. The Bengals said “No, Carson is not going to force his way out.”
It wasn’t a good time for the Bengals to try to move Carson because his value had really dropped after the last couple of years, plus everyone knew that he was trying to force a deal. So the Bengals said, “Fine, we’re moving on without you, but you ain’t playin’ for anybody else.”
It was so easy to side with Palmer here because nobody wants to play for the Brown clan and Cincinnati has been a dysfunctional franchise for decades. Plus, Palmer had given it a good shot in Cinci and it seemed like maybe a fresh start was good for everyone.
But the Brown clan wouldn’t relent. Instead, they made a fresh start of their own, getting rid of Ocho Sucko and drafting WR AJ Green with the 4th pick. Then when Cinci’s turn came back around they selected QB Andy Dalton with the 35th overall pick. Just like that they had replaced Sucko and Palmer with two younger players with promise. They also had new OC Jay Gruden to design an offense for them to thrive in.
They signed a few guys in free agency to shore up the defense (LB Thomas Howard, LB Manny Lawson, CB Nate Clements), and then just before the start of the season they claimed Brandon Tate off of waivers. They went into the season under the radar. They got off to a decent start and just when it looked like Carson Palmer might never play again the Raiders happened.
Just a couple of weeks after the death of Al Davis, the Raiders were sitting at 4-2 in a seemingly winnable division, but they had lost their quarterback (Jason Campbell) for the season. They were apparently in a gambling mood and they were after Carson Palmer. Now the Brown clan changed course and pulled the trigger. In the deal they got rid of Palmer’s contract and in return received a 1st RD pick in the 2012 draft and a 2nd Rd pick in the 2013 draft.
It didn’t take long to realize that Palmer wasn’t going to magically go back to his pre-injury form, but that really didn’t matter for the Bengals because they had already moved on from him. All that mattered was that they had gotten two very valuable assets in return for a guy who was never going to play for them again.
The entire rebuilding process for the Bengals—along with the fact that it worked out well and they made the playoffs—is why they have to be the top front office in the AFC for 2011.
The Texans also did a great job transforming their team but they were mainly working on the defensive side. It now looks like it was the right move to give Gary Kubiak another year, but the key to having that breakthrough was changing things up on defense and they started that process by hiring Wade Phillips.
Phillips is a dud as a head coach but he’s anything but a dud as a DC. Two other new defensive position coaches also joined the staff. Switching to Phillips meant switching to the 3-4, and with the 11th pick in the draft the Texans selected a versatile D-lineman prefect for that scheme in JJ Watt.
The Texans focused heavily on defense in the draft but they really didn’t get much out of it besides Watt. Oddly, it was Houston’s selection of QB TJ Yates in the 5th round that would end up being the most valuable of their final 7 picks after Watt.
They made one key FA signing, picking up CB Johnathan Joseph. They also added veteran safety Danieal Manning. It turned out nicely for Houston as they made the playoffs for the first time behind a solid defense and (in the end) rookie QB TJ Yates.
Beyond anything else, the Broncos get the nod for third place for the job they did overhauling the coaching staff. They made a brilliant move hiring John Fox but there were 7 other new position coaches on the staff. It would be hard to say that this coaching staff didn’t do an amazing job with that Denver squad.
The Broncos also had a solid draft. You can’t afford to screw up the #2 pick and they certainly didn’t by taking Von Miller. They got a pair of safeties who contributed in 2011 (Rahim Moore and Quinton Carter) and they also drafted guard Orlando Franklin who started every game.
They traded for DT Brodrick Bunkley and signed TE Daniel Fells, both of whom contributed. But their key move of the offseason was signing veteran RB Willis McGahee. The only glaring mistake Denver made (in my opinion) was essentially giving away WR Brandon Lloyd to the St. Louis Rams during the bye week right before Tebow Mania began.
Overall, Denver had an excellent year in the front office.
The Leslie O’Neal Award
AFC Comeback Player of the Year
Winner: D’Qwell Jackson-MLB-Cleveland
Runner-up: Willis McGahee-RB-Denver
Third Place: Plaxico Burress-WR-New York Jets
Comments: In this case I happened to go with the comeback from injury first; the rejuvenated career second; and the moronic guy finally getting to play after being imprisoned for shooting himself third. But D’Qwell Jackson is the obvious choice. In 2009 Jackson tore his left pectoral muscle and missed the final 10 games of the season. The following season after rehabbing Jackson was at training camp when he tore his right pectoral muscle. He missed all of 2010 and there was some thought that his career would be over. But Jackson returned in 2011 and had a fantastic season for the Browns, as already discussed in this awards blog.
Most fans are familiar with Willis McGahee’s career. A fantastic talent at the University of Miami, McGahee’s career took what I would refer to as a tragic turn during the final quarter of his college playing days. It was the 2002 National Championship Game between the U and Ohio State. McGahee suffered one of the more horrific injuries ever seen in a televised football game, tearing all of the ligaments in his knee. McGahee had been a lock to go in the top 5 of the draft. Now one had to question whether he would be drafted at all.
It turned out that he recovered remarkably well at least in the short term and he was drafted late in the 1st round by the Buffalo Bills. It was a great feeling already just to know that McGahee had been drafted, and been drafted in the 1st round, and would get a 1st round contract. However, McGahee was going to miss all of that upcoming season so we wouldn’t know if he could make it all the way back until 2004.
McGahee never did make it all the way back, but he made it far enough back to be a 1000 yard rusher in his first real season, winning the Comeback Player of the Year Award. Willis rushed for at least 990 yards and 5 TD’s in each of his 3 seasons in Buffalo before joining up with the Ravens in 2007. In his 1 year as the feature back in Baltimore McGahee had perhaps his best all-around season, rushing for over 1200 yards and 7 TD’s and also catching 43 passes.
However, McGahee transitioned into more of a part-time role in 2008 and even more in the next couple of seasons. His rushing yards total declined from 1207 (in 2007) to 671 (in 2008), then to 544 (in 2009), and finally to just 380 last season on only 100 carriers.
McGahee’s career looked to be petering out. But he signed with the Broncos during the offseason and they must have known he had a good chance of playing a major role because starting RB Knowshon Moreno is too small to be an every down back. Moreover, to this point Moreno has been unable to stay healthy, so there was a decent chance McGahee would be a starter at some point.
It didn’t take long. After seeing very little action in week 1, McGahee moved into the starting spot in week 2 and never looked back. He battled some injuries throughout the year but managed to play in 15 of 16 regular season games. McGahee apparently had one more great year in him. He carried the ball 249 times, rushing for 1199 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, and scoring 4 TD’s. He also caught a touchdown pass and had 10 rushes of 20+ yards.
Against Pittsburgh in the WC round McGahee rushed for 61 yards on 19 carries. He lost 1 of 2 fumbles and it was nearly very costly, but in the end he was finally able to beat the Steelers in the playoffs, something he hadn’t accomplished with Baltimore. The Broncos had no chance against New England but McGahee managed to run for 76 and a touch on 17 carries. McGahee averaged 79.9 yards per game during the regular season, the 2nd best average of his career.
McGahee was a good candidate for winning the award if not for Jackson. Burress really wasn’t, but it was none-the-less impressive that he was able to reenter the League at age 34 after missing 2 full seasons, and be as effective as he was. Not only that, but Burress was coming back from a terrible event in his life that saw him first shoot himself and then go to prison for it.
Really, as much of a selfish, arrogant, an unlikable guy as he was prior to the incident, I still feel bad for the guy. I feel bad for anyone that has to go to prison, but having to go to prison for a victimless crime that also caused you physical pain and humiliation is just cruel and unusual. Not to mention a football player losing years 32 and 33 is a much greater loss career wise than most other professions.
Anyway, Burress played in all 16 games for the Jets this season and caught 45 passes for 612 yards and 8 touchdowns. Strangely, he ended up having a better year than he did in his last season with the Giants before the incident in 2008.
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